Exercise is often recommended as a means of improving motor skills, fitness, muscle and bone strength, and joint function. Typically, exercise has beneficial effects upon musculature, connective tissue, bone, and nerves that stimulate the muscles.
A human face has a multitude of muscles, among which are four primary mastication, or chewing muscles. The mastication muscles include the masseter, or the jaw muscle, the temporalis, the medial pterygoid, and the lateral pterygoid. Each of these four mastication muscles is paired, with each side of the jawbone possessing one of the four.
In ordinary parlance, muscular “strength” usually refers to the ability to exert a force on an external object, for example, in order to lift a weight. By this definition, the masseter is the strongest of all human muscles. What distinguishes the masseter is the inherent mechanical advantage of working against a much shorter lever arm than other muscles in the human body. Similarly to other muscles within the human body, the masseter, along with the other three primary mastication muscles, may be exercised to enhance joint function, as well as to improve muscle and bone strength.